Method of and apparatus for the high speed packaging of filamentary or strand-like materials



April 10, 1956 G. SLAYTER ET AL 2,741,009

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR THE HIGH SPEED PACKAGING OF FILAMENTARY ORSTRAND-LIKE MATERIALS Filed April 4, 1951 BURNER ooooooooooo oooooooooooGames kSlayfer INVENTORS Nor/75 C Andaman HTTORNE Y5 United StatesPatent METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR THE HEGH.

SPEED PACKAGING 0F FILAMENTARY 131% STRAND-LIKE MATERIALS Games Slayterand Morris Clement Anderson, Newark,

Ohio, assignors to Owens-CorningFibergias Corporation, Toledo, Ohio, acorporation of Delaware Application April 4, 1951, Serial No. 219,226

17 Claims. (Cl. 28-21) This invention relates to a method of andapparatus for the high speed packaging of filamentary or strand-likematerials and the like.

In the production of such filamentary or strand-like mterials as, forexample, spun threads of natural fibers or filaments, strands or yarnsof rayon, nylon, or glass, or similar materials, after the continuousstrands are produced they must be packaged in some manner to permittheir subsequent use in the manufacture of textiles or other products.Usually such continuous strands are wrapped on spools or tubes byrotating the tubes or spools at a rate of'speed sufiicient to attenuatethe molten glass to fibers at the necessary rate and to wrap the strandbeing formed onto the spool until a sufiicient length is accumulatedthereon.

This system of wrapping the strand (such term being used generally) on arotary spool has one very serious disadvantage which is particularly badin the production of strands from materials or coated with materials,that will cause the various wraps to adhere to each other. For example,in the production of continuous strands of glass fibers, each individualfiber usually is coated with a size or other coating compound tolubricate the fibers andto prevent adjacent fibers or strands fromabrading each other. The size or other coating material, if notcompletely dried or if subjected to substantial pressure, may adheresuccessive or adjacent turns of the strands to each other and seriouslyinterfere with the subsequent unwinding, for example, in the lateroperation of weaving cloth or twisting cords.

When strands are wound on a rotating spool, the tension caused byattenuating the molten glass accumulates to build up a very high inwardpressure on the earlier layers of the strand which squeezes the materialtightly together and, if the sizing or coating substance is notthoroughly dry or impervious to such pressure, very tightly adheres onewrap to another. In a subsequent unwrapping operation some turns of thestrand may fray at the point of adhesion, or it may carry the secondturn oif with it which will snarl in the machine being operated. Whensuch a snarl or frayed strand develops, the operator must replace thespool with another and the old snarled spool must either be discarded ortime taken to unsnarl it. Either step is costly and wasteful.

In order partially to overcome this difliculty, strands and threadsfrequently are Wrapped on' spools in helical layers of substantialinclination and thus successive turns overlie each other at sharp anglesto reduce the area of contact between the turns and allow the wraps orturns to break away from each other more easily. Unfortunately, however,even with this care, the strands still adhere and frequently are frayedor tangled when unwound.

This problem resulting from the wrapping of strands on the exterior of aspinning spool is encountered in the fabrication of many strand-likematerials. An attempt at its solution has been made by feeding thestrand into the interior of a spinning bucket so that thestrand is laidon the inner surface and held out against the surface of the bucket andthe surface of the built up earlier layers by pressure no greater thanthe centrifugal force acting on the low mass of the material itself.Here other problems are encountered, for example, in order to package asubstantial length of strand in such a bucket, with enough space at itsaxis to permit the introduction of the strand thereinto, the bucket musthave a substantial diameter and considerable weight, and rotating such abucket at the tremendously high speeds necessary to package a glassfiber strand, for example, is out of the question.

In considering how the problem inherent in rotating spools or bucketsmay be overcome, a fundamental requirement must be borne in mind. Thisrequirement is that any stationary package for a continuous strand orfilament must be so designed that the last layers of strand into thepackage, will be the first out of the package and that at no time willany strands overlie strands which must come out of the package first. Ifthere is any reverse overlying snarls and tangles inevitably will resultduring the subsequent high speed removal of the strands for subsequentoperations.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide a method for thepackaging of continuous filamentary or strand-like materials such asglass fiber strands or other similar materials which are produced atvery high linear speeds (for example, in the order of 10,000 feet perminute in the case of glass) in which method the disadvantages inherentin the high speed rotation of spools and buckets are eliminated.

It is another object of this invention to provide an apparatus for thepackaging of continuous filamentary or strand-like materials produced athigh lineal rates of speed in which reverse order overlies of strandsare prevented, no built up pressure is created that tends to adherestrands to each other, and where high speed movement, rotary orotherwise, of the packaging elements is not necessary.

It is another object of this invention to provide a method of andapparatus for the packaging of continuous filamentary or strand-likematerials in which the resistance of air to the passage of the linearlyprojected strand is employed to cause the strand to flutter as it slowsdown and this fluttering is relied upon for the random distribution ofstrands in the package and where compactness of the packaged strands isachieved by air pressure.

More specific objects and advantages will be apparent from thespecification and drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic illustration of apparatus embodyingthe instant invention and which can be employed in the practice of theinstant invention; illustrating how a glass fiber strand produced at alinear rate of, say, 10,000 feet per minute, can be packaged in anon-rotating package.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of portions of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 andmore particularly of the package in which the strand is accumulatedthrough the practice of the instant invention, showing in general thepattern adopted by the strand in the package.

' Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of'a portion of the apparatus shown in Fig.1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view in perspective with parts broken away,illustrating a modified form of package and showing how the strands arebuilt up in such package by the practice of the instant invention.

Throughout the description which follows, the continuous filamentary orstrand-like material being handled will be identified through theexample of a glass fiber strand but it is to be understood that themethod of packaging and the apparatus disclosed herein for carrying outthe method, are equally effective when used in the packaging of anyother continuous strand, filament, thread, or yarn of a similar nature,such as organic texice tile fibers, for example, cotton, silk, wool,etc, and other artificial fibers such as rayon or nylon. In thisdescription the word 'strand" will be employed to cover not only closelygrouped filaments or fibers but also similar structuressuch asmonofilaments or threads, twisted cords or simply collectively handledgroups of filaments, the method and apparatus constituting the instantinvention being designed for the handling of any type of relativelyflexible continuous filamentary or strand-like material which is to bepackaged for subsequent rehandling.

In the practice of the instant invention for the packaging of glassfiber strands certain peculiarities inherent in glass material of thiskind are most effectively overcome in the production of an easilyhandleable package of continuous strands. Glass fiber strands, as isdiagrammatically shown in Fig. 1, are produced by the drawing ofindividual fibers of very fine diameter from streams flowing from a massof molten glass which is contained, for example, in a tank 11 andmaintained at such temperature therein as to flow through minute fiberforming orifices in a feeder or bushing 12. Similar instrumentalitiesmay be used in the production of some other synthetic fibers such asnylon, the diameter of the fibers being formed being determined by notonly the diameters of the orifices in the bushings 12 but also by theoperating speeds of the devices which are used to attenuate the streamsinto fibers.

In the structure illustrated in Fig. l, which commonly is used in theproduction of glass fibers, all of the fibers 10, after they are formed,are led over a coating roller 13 so mounted as to dip into a pool ofsizing or other coating material in a container 14 and to distribute thesame on the surfaces of the fibers 10. A grooved roller 15 serves togather the fibers 10 into a strand 16 which then is run between theperipheries of a pair of high speed rotary pulling rolls 17 havingparallel horizontal axes and rotated to apply tensive forces to thestrand to attenuate the molten glass streams to fibers and to drive thestrand 16 downwardly.

The pulling rolls 17 (see more particularly Fig. 3) preferably areformed with a series of inwardly directed inclined slits 18 whichseparate their surfaces into successive generally segmental elements 19.In Fig. 3 the peripheral outline of the feeding rolls 17 when stationaryis shown in broken lines and the position assumed by the elements 19when the rolls are rotated to achieve a linear speed of, say, 10,000feet per minute, is shown in solid lines. When the rolls 17 are rotatedat such high speed centrifugal force causes the elements 19 to flareoutwardly increasing the diameters of the rolls 17 and tightly grippingthe strand 16 between their peripheral surfaces. The segmental elements19 not only provide for the tight gripping of the strand 16 between thewheels but, as is indicated in Fig. 3 in an exaggerated manner, theyalso produce a whip-like effect in the strand 16 as it leaves the bightof the two rolls 17. In actuality, the flutter or whip of the strand isnot anywhere near as apparent as is shown in Fig. 3 because the strandis projected at a speed of almost two miles per minute and even thoughits mass is low it continues in what appears to be a straight linemovement for some little distance below the rolls 17.

Soon after leaving the rolls 17, however, resistance of the air to thepassage of the very light strand not only accentuates the flutterintroduced therein by the serrated peripheries of the rolls 17 but alsocauses the strand to flap or flutter in generally horizontal directions.At a distance of, say, 4 or 5 feet beneath the rolls 17, this flutter inthe strand increases to such an extent that the displacement of thestrand in horizontal directions may be as much as 4 to 6 or 8 inchesoverall.

if the strand were allowed to fall on a stationary table, for example,it would build up a pile of random swirls each of which would lie on topof all previous swirls and, if such a pile could be supported it wouldbe satisfactory as a package because each portion of the strand laterpiled on the pile would be on top of each portion previously piled onthe pile and the strand could be fed off the package in the reverseorder of its piling. Unfortunately, of course, if the strand were merelypiled up in such a manner it would collapse or topple and in so doingthe earlier piled portions of the strand inevitably would tangle thelater piled portions of the strand thus preventing its feeding away fromthe package without snarls or tangles.

The method of the instant invention contemplates the packaging of astrand being projected linearly through air at an initial speed in theneighborhood of 10,000 feet per minute in such a manner as to takeadvantage of the natural flutter in response to air resistance withoutthe resulting collapse of the pile or the resulting entanglement of thestrand.

At a level, say 5 or 6 feet, beneath the rolls 17, or such otherdistance as may be found to allow the strand 16 to slow downsufficiently to produce a flutter of the desired size, there is locateda foraminous container 20 which is shown in Fig. l as consisting in acan having an open top and perforated walls and bottom. The container 20rests on flanges 21 in an opening 22 formed in the top of a box-likeenclosure 23 which is mounted on a reciprocable table 24. The table 24rests on a plurality of rollers 25 and is linked by a connecting rod 26to a rotary crank or flywheel 27 driven in turn by a drive pulley 28 andbelt 29. High speed rotation of the flywheel 27 through the medium ofthe connecting rod 26 oscillates the table 24, traversing the container20 back and forth beneath the rolls 17 to receive the strand 16. Theoscillation of the table 24 is timed to cooperate with flutter of thestrand induced by the air resistance so as to distribute the swirls orloops of strand more or less evenly over the bottom of the container 20.The particular form of swirl or loop on which the strand falls on thebottom of the container 20 is not important so long as there is relativelateral movement between the path of the strand and the container 20 sothat successive loops or swirls always land on top of previous loops orswirls. Furthermore, the movement of the container 20 horizontallyspreads the swirls or strand and allows them to form in substantiallydiscrete horizontal layers with no later loop or swirl beneath anyearlier loop or swirl.

The container 20 may be equipped with a removable, flared lip 30,illustrated as being molded from plastic, but which may be made from anysmooth material, for catching any random loop or swirl that mightotherwise fall over the upper edge of the container 20.

The interior of the enclosure 23 is in communication with a blower 31 orother means which creates a substantial flow of air into the open top ofthe container 20 and out through the perforations in its walls andbottom. This flow of air holds the loops and swirls of strand in thepositions in the container into which they fall and prevents theoscillation of the container from displacing any of the loops or swirlsof strand or entangling them with subsequent loops and swirls. The draftof air is of sufficient force also to tightly pack subsequently fallingloops and swirls on top of previously falling loops and swirls thuscompacting the strand in the package and eliminating bridging andarching which might otherwise occur by reason of the random depositionof the loops and swirls on previously laid layers of the strand. Thisresults in a uniformly compact package whereas the strand itself has solittle mass it could not be shot in the container with enough force tomake the package compact. The blast of air thus prevents thecatastrophic entangling and also makes the package commerciallypracticable by providing compactness and, therefore, a great length ofstrand in the container.

The strand falling into the container 20 generally assumes a patternsuch as that shown in Fig. 2 where it can be seen that the strand isformed in loops and swirls progressing across the container transverselyand overlying only earlier deposited strand portions. Successivetraverses of the table 24 and the container 20 fill in successivelyfalling loops and swirls of strand, gradually building up successivelayers having at all times a generally flat upper surface and thusgradually filling the container 29 to a selected depth.

After the containerZtl has been filled, the blast of air has so tightlyheld the successive layers of loops and swirls of strands on top ofprevious layers, and the flutter and whip of the strand so distributedit over the surface of the container 2% and the previous layers of loopsand swirls of strand, that a very dense, solidly packed mass ofcontinuous strand fills the container 2% from its bottom to the desiredlevel.

During this filling operation the blast of air pulled into and throughthe container 29 by the blower 31 also serves to suck a dame 32 from aburner 33 downwardly into the open top of the container 20 and to pullthe air heated by the flame 32 through the mass of strands in thecontainer 2 The flame not only directly. has some drying efi'ect on thesizing or coating material 14 on the strand 16 which may pass directlythrough the flame 32 but principally, the air heated by the flame 32which is pulled through the mass of strand in the container 20 servesto. substantially completely dry the coating material on thesurfaceofthe strand 16. There is, thus, reduced adherence between touchingportions of the strand and, therefore, at no time does a strand beingpulled from such a container in the course of a subsequent operationalso pull with it any mass of strand out of its successive linearposition. The elimination of adherence between successive loops ofstrand caused h I the great pressure inherent in'rotary packaging initself eliminates almost all of the difiiculties encountered in subsequent unwinding of the strand. 7

In the mechanism diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. l the package 20is described as a perforated container and is well adapted for carryingout the process of the instant invention. Its essential characteristics,to enable the process to be carried out, are that it must havesufficient size to allow the strand to be projected into its interior inthe swirls and loops resulting from the slowing down of the linear speedof the strand; it must have thoroughly foraminous Walls to allow theblast of air to pass freely therethrough and it must be of such sizethat a substantial length of strand can be accumulated within it. Afurther improvement over the container or package 26 shown in Fig. l isthat shownin perspective and partly broken away in Fig. 4 where thepackage 34- is illustrated as having a sheet metal upper rim 35 to whichmay be attached a handle and flange 36 and an open mesh work body 37.The body 37 preferably is made of perforated metal but may be made ofscreening, expanded metal, woven wire or any open work material whichwill hold its shape, is sturdy enoughto be handled and yet issufiiciently foraminous to allow the free passage of air not onlythrough itself but also through an inner lining bag 38 whichhasperforated walls and bottom. The liner 38 may be fabricated frommaterial such as cellophane, aluminum and other metal foils, chlorinatedsheet rubber, vinyl, vinylidene chloride, or other resin film or othersheet material such as paper or the like and should be very thoroughlyperforated so as'to allow the air to pass freely through it. 7 Theadvantage'in using a, liner of this nature lies, of course, in thesimplicity of subsequent handling of the strands. With the use of aperforated liner 38 in the package or basket 34, after a sufficientlength of strand has been accumulated the liner 38 may he removed andreplaced with an empty liner and the upper portions of the filled linermay be folded down upon the upper layer of packed strand. The packagemay then be closed and thereafter handled as a lightweight integralunit. This greatly simplifies the shipping of packages of strand fromthe factory where they are made and packaged as shown in Fig. l, toanyother location where the strands may be processed in twisting machinesand thereafter in weaving, knitting or other machines.

Although the method of the invention has been described in connectionwith production and packaging of glass fiber strands in which eachstrand may consist of 200 or more individual fibers and in which therate of production is in the order of 10,000 linear feet per minute, andwhile the method and apparatus of the invention are particularlyeffective when used in connection with the production of this material,the advantages deriving from the elimination of rotary packagingelements such as spools or buckets apply with equal force to theproduction of other filamentary material, whether monofilaments,strands, yarns, twists, rovings or the like. The usefulness of theapparatus illustrated for carrying out the method is not confined to theproduction of glass fiber strands and with but slight modifications alsohas utility for packaging any of such similar materials.

We claim:

1. A method for the packaging of continuous filamentary or strand-likematerial produced at a high linear speed that comprises the steps ofprojecting the material linearly across an open space toward a packagingstation at such speed that said material arrives at such station with animpetus greater than that achieved under free fall and positioning aforaminous container across the line of movement of said material atsuch station for receiving and containing the strand.

2. A method for the packaging or continuous filamentary or strand-likematerial produced at a high linear speed that comprises the steps ofprojecting thematerial linearly across an open space toward a packagingstation at such speed that said material arrives at such station with animpetus greater than that achieved under free fall, reciprocating aforaminous container across the line of movement of said material atsuch station and forcing a draft of air into and through said containerfor compacting said material therein and holding the same againstlateral shifting.

3. A method for the packaging of continuous filamentary or strand-likematerial produced at a high linear speed that comprises the steps ofprojecting the material downwardly across an open space toward apackaging station at such speed that said material arrives at suchstation with an impetus greater than that achieved under free fall,reciprocating a foraminous container across the line of movement of saidmaterial at such station and forcing a draft of air into and throughsaid container for compacting said material therein and holding the sameagainst lateral shifting.

4. A method for the packaging of a continuous filamentary or strand-likematerial that comprises projecting the strand linearly at a high speedacross an open space for a distance suilicient to develop a substantialflutter and swirl in the strand by resistance of air to its passage andat such speed that said material arrives at such station with an impetusgreater than that achieved under free fall, reciprocating a foraminousreceiving container across the line of movement of the strand at a speedsuch that successive swirls and loops are spread laterally relative toeach other to form layers in said container, and forcing a blast of airinto said container with said strand and through the foraminous wallsthereof for compacting said strand therein and holding the same againstlateral movement.

5. A method for the packaging of a continuous filamentary or strand-likematerial that comprises projecting he strand downwardly at a high speedacross an open space for a distance sufficient to develop a substantialflutter and swirl in the strand by resistance of air to its passage andat such speed that said material arrives at such station with an impetusgreater than that achieved under free fall, horizontally reciprocatingan open topped foraminous receiving container across the line ofmovement of the strand at a speed such that successive swirls and loopsare spread horizontally relative to each other to form horizontaldiscrete layers in said container, and forcing a blast of air into andthrough said container for compacting said strand therein and holdingthe same against lateral movement.

6. A method in accordance with claim 5 in which the receptacle issubstantially rectilinear in plan and is reciprocated along its longeraxis.

7. A method in accordance with claim 5 in which the material is producedwith a generally sinusoidal shape of high frequency and projected fromthe producing means at such a high linear speed as to delay thenoticeable effect of the sinusoidal shape until the material has sloweddown due to air resistance to cause the material to fall into thereceptacle in loops and swirls.

8. A method in accordance with claim 5 in which the material is glassfiber strands produced at a linear rate in the order of 10,000 feet perminute.

9. A method in accordance with claim 8 in which the air forced into thereceptacle is heated for drying strand coating material.

10. Apparatus for the packaging of continuous filamentary or strand-likematerial that is produced on machinery which ejects the material at ahigh speed linearly, said apparatus comprising, in combination, areciprocating member located at a point remote from the last element ofsuch production machinery and in line with the falling strand, means forreciprocating said member in a direction perpendicular to the directionof movement of the strand, a foraminous receptacle having an open sidein line to receive said strand, means for removably mounting saidreceptacle on said member and means for forcing a blast of air into theopen side of said receptacle with said strand and through saidreceptacle.

11. Apparatus according to claim 10 including a flared, removable lip onthe receptacle for directing the strand thereinto.

12. Apparatus for packaging a continuous strand comprising means forprojecting said strand linearly toward a packaging station at asufiicient rate of speed that said strand arrives at such packagingstation with an impetus greater than that achieved under free fall, anopen topped foraminous container, means for reciprocating said containeracross the path of said strand at said packaging station and means forforcing a blast of air through said receptacle and the strandaccumulating therein for compacting the same.

13. Apparatus according to claim 12 in which the packaging station islocated at a distance from the projecting means such that air resistanceto the passage of the strand causes such strand to laterally deformduring its passage thereto while still travelling with such impetus.

14. Apparatus according to claim 12 in which the container is generallyrectilinear in plan and is reciprocated on its longitudinal axistransversely of the path of the strand.

15. Apparatus according to claim 14 in which the means for projectingsaid strand linearly is a pair of coacting rotary rollers between theperipheries of which said strand is and from which the strand isprojected generally in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the axes ofsaid rollers and parallel to the plane of the longitudinal axis of thecontainer.

l6. A method for the packaging of continuous filamentary or strand-likematerial produced at a high linear s eed that comprises the steps ofprojecting the material linearly across an open space toward a packagingstation at such speed that said material arrives at such station with animpetus greater than that achieved under free fall and positioning aforarninous container across the line of movement of said material atsuch station for receiving and containing the strand.

17. A method for the packaging of continuous filamentary or strand-likematerial produced at a high linear speed that comprises the steps ofprojecting the material linearly across an open space toward a packagingstation at such speed that said material arrives at such station with animpetus greater than that achieved under free fall, positioning aforarninous container across the line of movement of said material atsuch station and forcing a draft of air into and through said containerfor compacting said material therein and holding the same againstlateral shifting.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,083,765 Smith Jan. 6, 1914 1,353,613 Renton Sept. 21, 1920 1,771,869Baldenhofer July 29, 1930 1,824,772 Dassonville Sept. 29, 1931 2,028,241Paul Jan. 21, 1936 2,127,646 Luery Aug. 23, 1938 2,132,958 Martin Oct.11, 1938 2,304,260 Keller Dec. 8, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS 525,283 GreatBritain Aug. 26, 1940 420,085 France Nov. 14, 1910

1. A METHOD FOR THE PACKAGING OF CONTINUOUS FILAMENTARY OR STRAND-LIKEMATERIAL PRODUCED AT A HIGH LINEAR SPEED THAT COMPRISES THE STEPS OFPROJECTING THE MATERIAL LINEARLY ACROSS AN OPEN SPACE TOWARD A PACKAGINGSTATION AT SUCH SPEED THAT SAID MATERIAL ARRIVES AT SUCH STATION WITH ANIMPETUS GREATER THAN THAT ACHIEVED UNDER FREE FALL AND POSITIONING AFORAMINOUS CONTAINER ACROSS THE LINE OF MOVEMENT OF SAID MATERIAL ATSUCH STATION FOR RECEIVING AND CONTAINING THE STRAND.